Camposol return to bond market after El Niño

Camposol SA, one of the world’s largest avocado growers, plans to tap the international bond market next year to refinance debt when investors will be less concerned that El Nino will hurt farm output.

The Lima-based company plans to issue bonds to replace its $200 million of 2017 notes, when Peru’s rainy season eases after the first quarter, said Executive Chairman Samuel Dyer.

The yield on Camposol’s bonds has surged 19 percentage points in the last three months to 27 percent as meteorologists warn the strongest El Nino in two decades may trigger torrential rain, damaging farms in northern Peru. The concerns are misplaced as the company’s most profitable crops, such as avocado and blueberries, will have been already harvested before the rains intensify, Dyer said. Rising output of those two crops will probably boost profits to a record next year, he said.

“If we go to market, we want to go after El Nino has gone, which is in April,” Dyer said. “We’re very optimistic the market will be there for us. Next year will be a very, very good year.”

Camposol, the world’s biggest white asparagus exporter, has been scaling back production of the vegetable and expanding in blueberries, which it expects to account for as much as 40 percent of this year’s profit. Output will triple next year to 14,000 to 15,000 tons, equivalent to the annual harvest of Argentina, Dyer said.